Missouri Does Have 1.4 Billion Pounds of Cheese in Caves, But…

The fact that Missouri really does have 1.4 billion pounds of cheese hidden in caves is remarkable, but the urban legends that have ground out of this cheddar reality are even better. Let's try to separate Missouri cheese fact from dairy fiction.

If you've driven through or past Springfield, Missouri, you may have seen this entrance off the main drags.

This really is the Springfield Underground which is an elaborate underground storage facility that really does have a lot of cheese in it. It might even be the 1.4 billion pounds that has become famous.

The Farmlink Project, Modern Farmer and Mental Floss have all told the story of how the USDA did in fact store a ton (or tons) of cheese in this facility. The fact became legend as stories swirled about why the US government was storing massive cheese amounts underground. What were they preparing for? Was there about to be an alien invasion where our only weapon would be cheddar? The truth is sadly not that at all.

Patch was the source I saw that outed the fact that while there is a massive cheese storage in Springfield, Missouri, it's not the government's. They say the cheese is now owned by private companies like Kraft.

The cheese is still in Missouri though as this USDA fine chart shows. 1.4 billion pounds and counting.

This is the one case where the Missouri urban legend is based in real Missouri truth. Are there Missouri cheese caves? Yes. Are they part of a conspiracy? Sadly, no.